BACK PAIN BLOG UK IS A PERSONAL JOURNEY OF A CHRONIC BACK PAIN SUFFERER. MY SITE IS FULL OF THE LATEST TREATMENTS, PRODUCT REVIEWS, THERAPIES, DRUGS, TIPS AND WEBSITES ON BACK PAIN, FIBROMYALGIA and ARTHRITIC CONDITIONS.

BAD PAIN DAYS…

When your having a bad day with chronic pain you immediately start thinking of ways to get rid of it (well I do anyway).

The last couple of days have been just like that.

Friday night was my first night out for a while and it was a simple nights entertainment at the local village hall. I usually take my own cushion but forgot which I guess did not help things, but I ended up having a pretty restless and uncomfortable night.

Saturday the weather was lovely so I decided to go for a short walk with Bess. I’ve got to walk a little more every day anyway so walked a little bit further. I felt fine. My husband then said he would take me to the shops to find a pair of shoes suitable for the bad foot so we popped into town.

By the time I got home I just needed to get to my bed. This is ‘MY’ way of dealing with my pain. They say time and time again that sleeping (or resting) is not good for your back, well they are so wrong in my case as it is most definitely the best treatment for my back.

I felt better after my rest and enjoyed the rest of the day watching TV and finishing my knitting project. However, on Sunday morning I woke up with my neck in a real mess. I was unable to look to my left, but put it down to a little bit too much knitting and decided to go on another short walk as the weather was so nice.

So far so good, so then I decided to set about making my Christmas cards. I do a number of them every year by recycling some of last years and cutting out the bits I like. Now I ‘LOVE’ doing this and it does help take your mind of other things (like pain).

I managed a few but soon got into difficulty with my neck pain so had to give up and put them away for a while. Hubby does lunch on Sunday so I decided to go for a rest to help perk me up a bit and help with the pain.

I felt a lot better after my rest so settled down to another evenings entertainment on the television. Pain was getting the better of me (in my low back) so I was a little restless and ended up going to bed to read my book (another thing to take my mind off pain).

Now, I do everything they say you should do when having a few bad days, i.e., focus on something else (yes), use head pads (yes) rest but not for long (yes) keep taking your medication (yes). But sometimes, and fortunately not all of the time, nothing seems to work.

Over the weekend I felt like an object of pity, an old women in black. Pain is introspective; it doesnt give a dam about the rest of the world. You feel like you will never be the same again but somehow time heals all types of pain be it emotional, mental or physical.

I’m not after sympathy comments nor and praise for coping with it so well, as sometimes, like this weekend, I was not coping with it well at all. But, I guess sometimes I do wish people did understand how totally and utterly exhausting chronic pain can be. It may not be life threatening but it is most definitely life changing.

Funnily enough I had a few days that sound a bit like yours and I thought of you a lot – just having sciatica for the last few months is so wearying – you cannot sit for long and sometimes cannot find any position that alleviates it other than lying down or going for a walk.

I have to say I have felt really exhausted with it because it constantly impinges on your life and so for you always having this year in year out I can quite imagine it….. it is like a really long hard gruelling slog :no:

I really do feel for you Barmac…….

I have taken to standing behind the settee knitting and watching tv because to just stand and watch tv is somehow impossible but knitting makes it ok – distracts me from getting restless standing if you know what I mean.

Big hugs to you.. I know the sciatica is going and will eventually go…. but I do understand something of what you are going through just from my last few days…. it is relentless and gruelling and yes… exhausting..

Thanks dt, glad to hear your’s is slowly going but sciatica is one of those pains that stops you in your tracks. I have it on and off on my right hand side and find one position I can lie on but doing knitting like you say (or any other activity like that) does take your mind of it. You take care and keep it as warm as you can. For me, heat and rest are a good healer. 🙂 x

I’ll try that then. Sometimes they say cold things on the back help stop swollen bits and are better than hot but I haven’t tried either out of fear of doing the wrong thing! Lying down helps. I feel all better first thing in the morning and then it gets progressively worse till it is horrible in the evening especially if I haven’t been out for a good long walk – walking really helps :yes:xxx

Thank God I have found you Barmac. You have just described my life and its so good to know i am not alone. I have been suffering with chronic and increasing back pain for over two years now. Had all the tests you coould think of, seen spine doctors (treat conservativly) pain doctors, pills potions and epidurals and still the pain gets worse. yes I do have the odd good day but they are getting fewer and shorter. I try to stay positive but that is also getting harder and harder. I also try to read, knit or just sit in front of the telly, but sometimes I think that I will go mad. I feel increasingly isolated. I have had CFS for years but managed to get back into work but then this all started. At the same time as trying to look after my lovely mum who was dying of cancer. In the end I had to move her into a hospice as my Dad had a heart attack and was on a life support in another hospital. Unfortunatly We lost them both within two weeks. My stepmum has had a major stroke and is so ill it breaks your heart.
I don’t know if all of this stress has impacted on the pain or if I just feel it more because I find it so difficult to do anything else but think.
I know the doctors tell me to keep active but it is so hard. All I want to do is sleep as that seems to be the only time I feel pain free.
Another trip to hospital tomorrow, Gastro clinic this time to see if all the gastric problems are caused by the spine problem or something else completly. Wish me luck.
Thanks again it is great to know I am not alone or going mad.

Hi Vicky – YOU ARE NOT ALONE, I am always here for people to chat about their condition. You have not only had to deal with awful back pain but by the sound of it have had some traumatic personal problems to deal with.

These combined will definitely make your pain worse, there is no question of that. Sometimes, like you, I wish I could work again but it soon reminds me I can’t when I try to make some cards sitting at a table as opposed to nearly lying down for most of the day with the lap top on my knee.

My writing has been my savior so why not think of joining blog.co.uk – we have a lovely bunch here who are always there to support me. I hope all goes well with the gastro clinic which like you I have also been through and in fact going in again soon. Mine is the drugs I am on which is interferrring with other things.

Do please keep in touch as I am sure I can make you feel a little better on your bad days.

When you first suffer back pain, are you one of those people who wait to see how things go? Are you someone who lives in hope that your back pain will miraculously disappear overnight? Don’t worry you are in good company as the majority of back pain sufferers do the same.

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